Interview with Jessica Puyo, March 28, 2021
Project: Peace Corps: COVID-19 Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Jessica Puyo served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Samoa, from September 2018 to March 2020, in the Education Program. Puyo’s preference was for a country in Sub-Saharan Africa. She was selected for Mozambique, but the program was suspended before she began training. She was then invited to serve in Samoa. Language, culture, and teacher training was conducted on the island of Upolu, in Utulaelae village. Her assignment was on the island of Savai’i, in Salelavalu village. In both locations she was placed with a host family. Puyo taught English to students who struggled with language, improved the school library, and conducted computer literacy training for teachers. She organized a Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) Conference, and started a GLOW club in her village that met weekly. In March 2020, volunteers were evacuated due to COVID-19. The interview discusses motivation for volunteering, training, work, relationships with host families, students, and community members, and evacuation.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
Interview Date
Interview Keyword
Peace Corps (U.S.) Samoa (Country of service) 2018-2020 (Date of service) Tanzania Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteer (EPCV) Upolu (Training site) Utulaelae (Training village) Savai’i island (Assignment site) Salelavalu (Assignment village) Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) Peace Corps (U.S.)--2010-2020Interview LC Subject
Acculturation Communication and culture Culture Culture shock Intercultural communication Interpersonal communication and culture Interpersonal relations Interpersonal relations and culture Language and culture Language and languages Lifestyles Manners and customs Voluntarism Volunteers Peace Corps (U.S.) COVID-19 (Disease) Peace Corps (U.S.)--SamoaInterview Rights
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.Interview Usage
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All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.
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Puyo, Jessica Interview by Julius Sztuk. 28 Mar. 2021. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Puyo, J. (2021, March 28). Interview by J. Sztuk. Peace Corps: COVID-19 Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Puyo, Jessica, interview by Julius Sztuk. March 28, 2021, Peace Corps: COVID-19 Evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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